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(No Model.)

M. J. STARK.

'SHEET METAL FOLDER. No. 387,746. Patented Au 14, 1888.

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Unirse STATES PArnNr Ottica MICHAEL J. STARK, OF BUFFALO, NEV YORK, ASSTGNOR TO ADAM HEINZ AND GEORGE J. MUNSOHAUER, OF SAME PLACE.

SHEET-METAL FOLDER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 387,746, dated August 14, 1888.

Application filed January Q6, 1888. Serial No. 261,967, (No model.)

To @ZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, MroHAnL J. STARK, of Buffalo, in the county of Erie and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Sheet-Metal Folders; and

l do hereby declare that the following description of my said invention, taken in connection with the accompanying sheet of drawings, forms a full, clear, and exact specification,

ro which will enable others skilled in the art to `which it appertains to make and use the same.

My present invention has general reference to sheet-metal folders; and it consists, essentially, in the novel and peculiar combination of parts and details of construction, as hereinafter first fully set forth and described, and then pointed out in the claims.

ln the drawings already mentioned, which serve to illustrate my invention more fully,

2o Figure lis a plan of my folder, aportion of the blade being removed to expose the underlying parts. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the same. Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional elevation in line :i: a of Fig. l. Fig. 4 is a similar view in z5 liney y of said Fig. l. Fig. 5 is an elevation of the foldei-\ving, showing the mechanism for operating the same. Fig. 6 is a perspective view ofthe cani button or bolt.

Lilie parts are designated by corresponding 3o letters of reference in all the figures.

The object of my invention is the produc1 tion of a more serviceable, better adjustable, and easier operated sheetmetal folder than has heretofore been produced. To attain this object I construct my folder of a bed or buse, A, having forwardly extending a projection, B, serving as a guide for a slide, C, of the gage D. rEhis projection Bis formed integral with the base or bed piece A, and it has a gib, E,

fio rendered adjustable by set-screws a, to take up wear of the parts and allow the slide to work freely, but without play, in said guide B.

The slide C is of an open rectangular contour or frame, having in its open space alug,

c, provided with a stud, F, with which and a similar stud, Gr, engages a link, H, as clearly shown in Figs. l. and Il. In the bed A is a longitudinal groove, a', Fig. l, into which is placed a sliding bar, a, to which the stud G,

5o heretofore mentioned, `is affixed. The forward end oi' this sliding bar a has an internallyscrew-threaded projection, A. wherewith engages the gage-screw J, consisting of the usual right and left threaded screw-bolt, as shown, one of the threads of this bolt engaging with the screw-threaded projection A just mentioned, while the other larger thread operates in a stud-nut, a", Fig. l.

It will be observed that by screwing the gage-screw J through the studnut into the 6e projection A the movement. thereby imparted to the bar a. will be transferred in opposite direction to the slide C by the link H, in a manner readily understood from the drawings. The gage consists of a bar having a series of projections, as clearly shown in Fig. l, and since its construction and its manner of being used does not diier materially from the old and weltknown gage a detailed description is omitted. 7o

In conjunction with the bed A and its gage and foldenblade I operates the folder-bar K. This bar is journaled in bearings L L on the end of a clampingbar, M, and has rearwardlyprojecting armsj'f, to which are pivoted the 75 wing N, this portion of the folder being old and well known.

In existing folders the wing is raised and lowered by means of a wedge, O, having inelines g, engaging with similar inclines, g', on 8o said Wing. This wedgepiece is secured in position by a capscrew, l), and has heretofore been moved laterally to raise and lower the wing N by unscrewing the eapscrcw P and then pushing on it in the proper direction. This operation is a very awkward one and re sults, generally, in several Vain attempts be fore the proper position of the wing is reached.

To overcome this very obj eotionable feature of the old folders, l provide for a positive means 9o of adjustment by forming in the bar O a rack,

It, and engaging therewith a pinion, p, thespindle of which is provided with an angulaiwrench-seetion, p', corresponding in'size and shape with the head of the cap-screw l?, so that if the wrench which is used for manipulating said capscrew is placed upon the angular Wrench-section p', Figs. l and 4, said pinion, and by it the wedge-bar O, can be moved in a very sure and ready manner. This is quite roo a' 3mes an essential and novel feature in folders and is of considerable importance for making quick and positive adjustment of the wing N.

In the folders as heretofore constructed the clamping-bar M pivoted to the uprights d of the bed A by the arms m, is raised by turning the wing-bar with the handle Q, the circular notched bearers R resting upon rollers R, journaled in the shoes S, which are pivoted .within the uprights d, in which are also pivoted the clamping-bar M. These shoes are rendered adjustable vertically by means of the set-screws z',- but since the vertical motion of the clampingbar always remained the same unless changed by adjustment of the set-screws z', and since it is very difiicnlt to get at these screws, there was heretofore practically no ready means of adapting or changing the folder for various thicknesses of metal to be formed.

It is true in a folder of more recent construction the set-screws are arranged to rest upon what I consider an attempt at an elastic base, but even if thereby the clamping-bar is rendered elastic, it is not thereby made adjustable and adapted for considerable range in thickness ofthe material to be folded. To provide for such ready means of adjustment, Ilocate underneath the set-screws i two cams, U, consisting of cylindrical bars u, having thumbheads for easy manipulation and notches l, 2, and 3, Fig. 6, (more or less,) of proper depth, so that if these several notches are successively turned upward the clamping-bar is raised and lowered respectively the difference in the depth of these'notches, and thereby the distance between the top edge of the clamping-bar and the bottom side of the folder-blade varied in an absolutely positive manner.

Most of the breakages of the pivots of the wing-bar are due to the clampingbar coming in too close Contact with the folder-bar, because the means for altering` the pressure of the clamp are so slow and inaccessible that the operator will try to do the folding without first adapting the machine to his particular want. This is at once overcome by my buttons, because as soon as the operator finds that the folder works hard, owing to improper adjustment, he can at once return the wing-bar to its normal position and turn the buttons to correspond with the material to be operated upon.

-The folder-bar I,with the wing N, are in large folders quite heavy, and to manipulate them for any length of time in the operation of folding is very tiresome. To make this operation easier, I have counter-balanced the foldcnbar by extending one of the pivots Z beyond the bearing L and attaching thereto a lever,V,and engaging therewith a coilvspring, X, in such a manner that when the folder-bar is raised into a position where the same is in perfect equilibrium the said lever is pointing downward in a perpendicular position, so that whether the folder-bar is moved forward or backward of its center of gravity the coilspring X will be tensioned, and thereby caused to counteract the gravitating tendency of the bar. Means for adjusting the tension of the spring are provided by the slotted aperture in the lever V (marked 11') enabling the stud v to be moved nearer to or farther away from the center of the pivot, thereby increasing or decreasing the leverage and by more or less tensioning the spring by engaging the proper link of the chain Y with the foot-hook Z, fastened upon the floor Z', as clearly shown in Fig. 2.

I am aware that in so-called cornice brakes the folder-bar is balanced by counter-weights and that adjustment is made by shifting the weights. One ofthe most serious objections to the weights in such devices is the sluggishness of the saine caused by inertia of the mass and the considerable momentum attained by the bodies in motion, so that for the purpose of a quick-acting folder such a weight device is not applicable,and is not, therefore,an equivalent, or at best but a very unsatisfactory one, for my spring device.

It will be readily observed that in the cambolt there may be quite a number of notches for the various differences in adjustment. I prefer in the present instance three to correspond with IC, IX, and IXX tin, well-known terms designating thickness of tin-plate, which covers the ordinary range of variation required, though by increasing the number and depth of notches additional variations may be produced.

I have described Fig. 3 of the drawings to be a transverse sectional elevation in line x x of Fig. l, the figure being supposed to be correct when looking in the direction from left to the right. No attention, however, is paid in this Fig. 3 to parts beyond thejpartf, for the reason that Figs. 2 and 4 show them properly.

Having thus fully described my invention, I claim as new and desire to have secured to me by Letters Patent the following:

1. In sheet-metal folders, the combination, with the bed-piece A, having the guide-piece B fitted with a gib and set-screws, of the slide C, having the link H, connecting the gage with the gage-screw, as described, whereby the lateral movement of the said gage-screw causes the movement of the slide in a direction at right angles to that of the said gage-screw, as and for the object specified.

2. In sheetnietal folders, a gage, D, operated by a gage-screw, J, having stud G, in combination with the link H and slide C, having the stud F, as and for the purpose stated.

8. In sheet-metal folders, a bed having a forwardly-projecting guide, B, fitted with gib E and setscrews a a, in combination with an open slide, C, having the link as an intermediary between it and the gage-adjusting screw J, substantially as and for the object stated.

et. In sheet-metal folders, the combination, with the shoe S, of the adjusting mechanism IOO consisting of the earn-shaped button U, whereby the clampingbar M is adjusted, Substantiaiiy as and for the purpose specied.

5. The combination, with the clamping-bar, of the shoe S and the buttons U, having' notches of varying depth to raise and lower the clamping-bar by turning said buttons, as indicated.

U. In sheet-metal folders, the Wing N, having the inciines g', in combination with the Wedge-bnr O, having Athe rack it, Wing-bar K, and pinion p, :is and for the purpose stated.

7. In sheet-1netai folders, the combination, with the winginu K, having the pivots Z, of

Attest:

MINNIE HEIM, WM. O. STARK. 

